ENFIELD, CT (1010 WINS) — Selena Rodriguez was only 11-years-old when she took her own life last July. Now the Connecticut girl’s mom is taking legal action against the social media companies she claims played a part in her daughter’s tragic decision.
Rodriguez’s mom, Tammy, filed a lawsuit on Thursday against Meta Platforms Inc, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Snap, Inc. which operates Snapchat. Tammy said her daughter was addicted to Instagram and Snapchat and that addiction contributed to her suicide.
For two years, Tammy tried to address her daughter’s addiction by taking her to see a therapist and even attempted at one point to confiscate her daughter’s devices, but Selena only ran away from home so she could continue to stay connected.
The wrongful death suit Tammy filed alleges Meta used tactics to keep her daughter glued to the applications.
Tammy claims her daughter was able to effortlessly create accounts because the sites lack proper safety protocols like parental controls or age and identity verification checks. Selena was able to bypass Meta's minimum age requirement of 13 for users as stated in their terms of service, according to Tammy.
The lawsuit was filed by the Social Media Victims Law Center which helps “parents of teenage victims suffering from depression, an eating disorder, hospitalization, sexual exploitation, self-harm or suicide as a result of social media cyberbullying.” In a press release, the SMVLC stated the companies were fully aware of the tactics being used to keep users addicted.
“This isn’t a question of opinion. Internal documents and testimony before Congress by a former employee reveal that Meta Platforms was fully aware of the flaws and addictive properties of its social media platforms and failed to adequately design their products to protect minor users from harm,” said Matthew P. Bergman, founder of SMVLC. “
The lawsuit also said Selena was constantly solicited for explicit content on the platforms. Selena eventually sent sexually explicit photos via Snapchat as a result of immense pressure. The photos were shared with classmates and the lawsuit alleged that the humiliation Selena felt following that incident attributed to her poor mental health leading up to her death.
In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for Snap told CBS News they were committed to the safety of their users.
“We are devastated to hear of Selena's passing and our hearts go out to her family. While we can't comment on the specifics of active litigation, nothing is more important to us than the wellbeing of our community," the Snap spokesperson said. "In fact, Snapchat helps people communicate with their real friends, without some of the public pressure and social comparison features of traditional social media platforms, and intentionally makes it hard for strangers to contact young people.
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